A World Away
by emmadotlouise
Summary: If saving her life meant breaking her heart... would you be willing to do it? Yet, if she still came chasing after you, would you still run away? Taking refuge in the Spirit World, Syaoran’s convinced he’s doing the right thing. CCS/Spirited Away x-ov
1. Chapter One: Breaker

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One of the latest fics that has come to mind. This one has been floating around in my head for months and I've finally managed to get a decent chapter written. Most of the other chapters that I wrote, I felt were very cliché. ^^;;

Also- the song used in here is written by me also. I don't exactly have a name for it now, but I think I'll call it 'Heartbreak'.

Disclaimer: I hate this _thing._ I hate the disclaimer so much I call it a _thing._ Anyway- to be short. I don't own CCS. I own the song, but that's it. Plus the $2 slippers I'm wearing now, but that's about the extent of it. ^^;;

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Summary: If saving her life meant breaking her heart... would you be willing to do it? Yet, if she still came chasing after you, would you still run away? Taking refuge in the Spirit World, Syaoran's convinced he's doing the right thing. CCS/Spirited Away x-over.

~ A World Away ~ Chapter One ~ Breaker ~

"Come, come, the only way to see him again..." a voice said and a figure swam into view. Her face was in shadow, her long black hair swinging gently against her shoulders, the darkness surrounding her. Her face held a pleading look, her eyes a certain type of mystery.

"Can... I...?" the words tumbled out from the girl's lips, sounding a little stretched and slightly incoherent. Then her voice strengthened and she said more clearly, "Can I?"

"Yes you can, young one, but we have to hurry, otherwise we will miss our opportunity," the voice sounded hurried, as if the girl did not have much time. Her arm was extended, her hand reaching out to take that of the other.

The other started reaching out her hand towards the shadowed girl, but then found herself totally submerged in light, the shadowed one gone. "Where did you go?" the other called out, her voice ringing around the void of light. She was not answered.

* * * * * Back to REALITY! More like... Sakura's bedroom... ^^;; * * * * *

The girl woke up to find herself awake. Her immediate reaction was to sit up and look around. Hence, she did. Her green eyes were searching, her senses open and alert. Nothing. Well, nothing in her room except for a certain toy snoozing away in his bed which was situated in the drawer of her desk along with the book of Star Cards.

This girl's name was Kinomoto Sakura. Folding the bed covers over, she swung her legs over the side of her bed, placed her feet on the ground and shivered. The floor was absolutely freezing.

Sakura stood and walked over to her window, her hand reaching out and opening the curtains partially. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, but she found nothing wrong or amiss. Her hand fell from the curtain and she walked over to the sleeping guardian. Prodding him gently she whispered, "Kero, hey, Kero, wake up."

There was a stir.

"Sakura, what is it? Do you have any idea what the time is?" Kero groaned. Tears were dripping out of his eyes from pure exhaustion. "I wanna sleep..." Kero began rubbing his eyes. "God, I'm all wet..."

Sakura's gaze was quietly observant and she snapped out of her trance just in time to hear what Kero said and notice that he was awake now. "Kero, I had a dream," she said simply. 

"A dream?" Kero asked, his eyebrows raising slightly so that he had a faintly surprised look on his face. "Was this a dream dream or a premonition dream?"

"I'm not exactly sure, it kind of felt like both. I didn't know what was going on. I mean I had no idea of who the person in the dream was at all. They just stood there telling me that there was a way to see this person that somehow I wanted to see. I had been feeling helpless until she had come along." Sakura was musing over what she could remember. She moved to the window and opened the curtains, letting the morning sunlight shine in.

"Did she have a familiar voice? I mean, did you get any vibes or anything from her aura?" Kero asked. He was a little confused about this one.

"The thing is, Kero," Sakura said, turning from where she was standing at the window, "I couldn't sense anything. It was as if all my senses were in a block. I didn't know what to do at all."

Kero's face was set in a thoughtful expression. "You know, this one stumps me a little. Can you let me mull it over for a while? I'll tell you what I think of it in a couple of hours, ok?"

Sakura nodded, her serious face breaking into a smile and her features lightening. "Kero, it might pay just to change out of your pyjamas." Sakura put a hand over her mouth to hide the smile, but it escaped and the corners of her mouth twitched, easily showing Kero that she was laughing. Kero's pyjamas consisted of a two piece set of flannelette. The sweater like top had holes for Kero's wings and there was a hole in the bottom of his pants for his tail. The pyjamas had been custom made by Tomoyo and Kero had picked out the material.

Much to Sakura and Tomoyo's amusement, Kero had picked the material that had pudding printed all over it. Needless to say, Kero's obsession with pudding had probably gone just a little too far.

"OK, OK," Kero said restlessly and there was a bang as Kero's "bedroom door" (the drawer) slammed shut.

"Be careful there Kero! I don't want my guardian to get lost!" Sakura called through the tiny keyhole gap. Her response was a round black eye peeking out at her from the keyhole. She got a little bit of a fright and jumped back with a start.

"Stay out while I'm changing!" Kero called to Sakura. "I'm almost done. What are you planning on doing today anyway?"

Sakura was at her mirror, brushing her long hair, occasionally blowing puffs of breath upward at her fringe to get it out of the day. "I don't actually know. No plans I guess. I was thinking of finishing up my chores. Me and Touya swapped days."

"Why?" Kero asked. "I thought your brother wasn't working today."

"So did I," Sakura answered. "But a shift came up at the last minute last night and he asked if he could swap days with me. I don't mind really, it gives me something to do." Sakura smiled, tying her hair up in a ponytail, trying to get her bangs in as well, but they refused and just flopped back to their original position, framing her face. Sakura gave a sigh of defeat and went to open the door. Stepping through, she said to Kero, "Come down when you want breakfast. I don't think anyone's home."

"Okay," was Kero's answer and there was a loud thud from his drawer. "Damn! I hate ceilings!" he yelled in frustration, rubbing the bump that had now formed on the back of his head.

* * * * * Downstairs * * * * *

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

These coming from two human beings that were standing in Sakura's kitchen arguing.

"Oh come on, Jomei, I know you better than that, it was your fault!"

"Was not!"

"Was TOO!"

"Sachi, YOU were the idiot that got us here, so now get us out!!!!"

Sakura heard these voices from downstairs and was wondering what was going on. She picked up her baton from beside her door and began walking slowly and quietly down the stairs.

CREAK.

Uh oh, bad, very very bad.

CREAK!

Even worse! No!

"Jomei?"

"... You're only saying that because..."

"Oh shut up for a minute, I think someone's coming downstairs."

"What?! Oh, Sachi, Ma is gonna kill you!"

"I don't need to hear that. Hang on, I'm gonna go check! Shut up for a second, ok?"

"What...ever girlfriend."

"Eww... don't make me hurl." Someone made a gagging sound. "Be right back."

Sakura heard some steps coming towards the arch in the doorway. The person was only metres from where Sakura was standing, frozen. _Don't see me, don't see me, _Sakura was thinking, cowering up against the banister. _Crap! Crap! Crap!_ She was mentally scolding herself.

"Hey... Sachi? What if it's that Kinomoto girl? You know, the one that you were coming to see in the first place?"

"Jomei, how many times do I have to tell you, she also has a brother and father that could be here and we can't risk being seen by them. Think of what Ma would say."

"She's gonna kill you as it is for even coming here, so I don't really see much of a risk."

"Oh yay." Sarcasm was poured on. "That makes me feel a hell of a lot better."

"Good. It was meant to."

Someone sighed.

Sakura was about to go back upstairs to Kero when a girl emerged from around the corner. Sakura bit back a shriek and cowered back even more.

The girl turned to talk to the other person in the kitchen.

"Hey! Jomei, I think I found her. I think she's the Kinomoto girl anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Are you the Kinomoto girl?" the strange girl directed at Sakura.

"Kinomoto... girl?" Sakura asked. "My name's Kinomoto Sakura, so it might be me... what do you want?"

"Oh, don't worry honey, we're not gonna harm you, at least, I won't anyway." The girl directed a glare at the other person. "And Jomei, if you lay a hand on her, I'll dispose of you personally. You may be my brother, but you know I don't put up with crap."

"Uh huh. Whatever sister."

Sachi groaned. "You see what I have to put up with?" she said, indicating her brother.

Sakura smiled a little, dropping her guard and her baton. "My brother's just as bad."

Sachi smiled at this new girl named Sakura. There was no doubt in her mind that this girl was the one. The one that... NO! She couldn't think like that. Sachi shook the thought from her mind and instead crouched down to Sakura's level. Sachi was much much taller than Sakura. She was probably about 6'1" and she had the look to boot. Sachi looked about twenty five years of age, no lines in her face and a cool 'do. Dark denim flare jeans clad her legs, and a purple top that came to about her midriff.

"Well, Sakura. I guess you're wondering why there's two people standing in your kitchen arguing, right?"

"Well, yeah," Sakura said hesitantly. She was still shocked at seeing the two people so... collected. They seemed to act as if nothing had happened. "Who are you two?"

Sachi looked nervously at Jomei and then back at Sakura. "Um... well, I'm Sachi, and this is my brother, Jomei. You're gonna find this hard to believe but..."

"SACHI!" Jomei hissed under his breath. "SHE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW!!!!"

Sachi drew up to her full height again and led Sakura through to the kitchen where Jomei was standing, his elbows leaning against the counter, a bored expression on his face. His hands were nestled under his chin. He didn't seem to care less, but as Sachi went to stand beside him, Sakura could start to see the resemblance between the two.

Brown hair, the same colour as milk chocolate, went down to Sachi's shoulder blades except that her hair now had been braided, a dark brown weaved through the chocolate coloured strands. It was her eyes though that were the most startling, a hue of grey that was neither dark nor light, but seemed to hover between, constantly changing. They were a darkish silver at the moment.

The only differences between Sachi and Jomei were that Jomei's eyes were a blue-grey and his hair was shorter, bangs in the front and in back, hair down to his neck. Jomei was also a bit shorter than his sister, probably about 5'11", not that that was very short anyway.

Sakura was getting a crick in the back of her neck from looking up so much. "Sachi, where did you come from?"

Just as Sachi was about to open her mouth to answer, the phone rang.

"Hold that thought," Sakura said, smiling a little as she rushed to grab the phone. Picking it up, she clicked the 'Talk' button.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Sakura-chan?" the voice sounded a little hesitant.

"Syaoran? Is that you?"

"Yeah, listen, I need to talk to you about something, can you meet me at the shrine?"

"Tsukimine shrine?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran confirmed, "Yes, Tsukimine shrine. See you soon, Sakura."

"Syaoran, wait -" but she was cut off by the abrupt monotone of the phone dial. "Bye."

Sakura clicked the phone off and placed it back on the receiver, a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sachi asked.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. She was about to tell Sachi about her very short phone call, but decided against it. "It's nothing." She stayed thinking.

Jomei checked out Sakura's facial expression and muttered to Sachi, "She's in lalaland. She could be a while, I suggest we snap her out of it."

"Agreed," Sachi replied and she walked the couple of steps forward to be level with Sakura. "Sakura, hey, earth to Sakura," she said, prodding the girl's arm gently.

Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked a little guilty. "Sorry," she apologised. "I was staring into space for a little bit there."

"No problem," Sachi said, speaking for both her and her brother. "Listen, Sakura, I think you better go and get off to whatever you're meant to. It sounded important."

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off, still absent a little. She picked up her key, hung it around her neck and went out the door, but not before adding to Sachi and Jomei, "Feel free to have something to eat if you want to. Kero might be down soon and he'll probably be hungry. He looks a little like a teddy bear with wings, but please don't hassle him."

"Don't worry, we won't," Sachi said with an evil grin. She already knew what she was going to do...

* * * * * On the way to the Tsukimine Shrine * * * * *

A cool wind blew through the trees and the dew on the grass sparkled as the early morning sun rose over the hills and sent a warm welcome. The wind blew in Sakura's face as she walked down to the shrine. Her mind was still going over those last few events that had happened as soon as she had woken up that morning, but the one that was most disturbing her was that abrupt phone call with Syaoran. He had seemed in such a hurry. What was going on? She had absolutely no idea.

Going past the school, Sakura looked in to see a figure at the window. Sakura squinted a little to see if she could get a better view of who it was but her instincts told her that she shouldn't worry about it. There were more troubling things at hand, for instance, how in the world Sachi and Jomei had come in her kitchen when she knew that both her father and brother would have made sure that all the windows and doors in the house were locked before they left.

Sakura's gaze went back down to the ground, and she mulled over that dream again. The woman... what she had said struck Sakura more... "Come, come, the only way to see him again..." ...was that related to Syaoran somehow? To be honest, she had no idea.

A playful wind nipped at Sakura's hands and she pulled them further inside her sleeves to prevent her hands from going numb, they were pretty near that. It was a cold winter morning, she could say that much and she had been surprised when she had stepped out of the house that there had been only dew on the ground, not frost or snow.

A snowflake landed in Sakura's hair, but she didn't feel it. It settled gently, leaving no mark and it melted. Sakura looked up at the sky and saw little white puffs falling. It was snow, snowflakes. They were beautiful, but Sakura could not appreciate it, there was so much on her mind that she didn't even know where to start. She had to find a way to get all of this out of her head when she talked to Syaoran. He was able to read her so well. It had always been that way. Always.

Sakura raised her hands to feel the snowflakes building up on her palm. For a moment, she just stood there, absorbing the early morning air.

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It's a beautiful morning

But you feel so down

Something's going wrong

You know, you can sense it now

A tear rolled down her cheek. Something was going to happen. Something that she was not going to be prepared for. She could sense that ahead already. Something was going to drastically change in her life within the next twenty minutes and she had a horrible feeling that it had to do with Syaoran.

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There's a sad thing called 'love'

That can be the most suffocating thing

But when it's right

It makes your heart sing

But some things need to happen

That changes the course of life

Sometimes a path needs to be made

Even though it comes with its strife

Sakura was at the entrance of the shrine. She could see Syaoran waiting there. She could choose to turn back, run away and not listen to what he had to say. But then, she'd never get the chance to say goodbye...

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It's gonna hurt, it always does

There are times when you have to say good bye

Though you don't want to

You don't want it to be the end

After all the heartache

Your heart might start beginning to mend...

Sakura took a step inside the shrine. She took a deep steadying breath and tried to calm her emotions, but to no avail. She was barely managing to contain what she was feeling as she began stepping meekly towards Syaoran. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

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There are times that you need to do this

And though it hurts like hell

You need to set them free

Even if it's to keep them alive

"Syaoran...?" Sakura's voice was breaking. She was still just managing to keep her emotions contained. Everything was going to come spilling out, she knew it.

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It's gonna hurt, it always does

There are times when you have to say good bye

Though you don't want to

You don't want it to be the end

After all the heartache

Your heart might start beginning to mend...

His news. She could see everything etched within his face. The immense pain. As she came closer, tears became brimming in her eyes. She refused to wipe them away. She had to stay strong through this... for the both of them.

"Sakura," he whispered as she came closer. "I'm sorry..."

Sakura barely heard him, but gave a tiny nod to let him know that she understood.

"...I don't love you anymore."

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There are times that you need to do this

And though it hurts like hell

You need to set them free

Even if it's to keep them alive...

Sakura felt her heart breaking. It started as a pain in her chest and it became almost unbearable within seconds. The tears that had been brimming in her eyes spilled over and Sakura fell to the ground on her hands and knees, burying her face in her hands. A soft whimpering were the only sounds that were coming from Sakura.

Syaoran felt his heart break too. He could not look Sakura in the eye after he had uttered those words and to see her in so much pain caused him great agony. He wanted to take everything back, if only he could, but he had to do this to save her. It was the only way to keep her alive, he had to separate himself from her and there was only one place where she would never be able to find him. He would neither be able to return.

After a terrifying dream the night before, Syaoran had decided that he had to do this. It was the only way that he would successfully be able to protect her.

"I'm sorry, Sakura... I have to do this." Syaoran drew his sword, muttered a spell and carved a circle in the air big enough for him to walk through. On the other side appeared a different plane of reality, a different world in all. "I'm sorry..." he whispered once again before stepping through.

When Sakura lifted her head from her hands, she saw that Syaoran was gone. "Syaoran..." she murmured before the world went black.

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~~To Be Continued...~~

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Well, there's the end of this chapter. What do you think of it? Leave a review if you want to. Remember that reviews are great inspiration. If you're going to flame, please make it constructive criticism, so I can improve. It's always a great help to know what I'm doing wrong. ^_^

Thanks.

Karisa Temura


	2. Chapter Two: Loss

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Hmm... I'm sorry this new chapter took so long. Some of you might have read in my bio that I found out that a friend of mine died. I found out a couple of nights ago and even though I had over half of this chapter written, it was still quite difficult. Oh god, I'm rambling... sorry about that. I'll get on with the fic, it'd probably be easier for you guys, and for me...

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or Spirited Away. CCS is owned by CLAMP and Spirited Away belongs to Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away is one of the best movies I have ever seen, if anyone hasn't seen it, I highly recommend it!

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Special thanks to:

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Yu Yuan: Thank you so much for your review! I'll update as fast as I can, ok?

lilsue: Here it is! Here it is! I'm sorry for the sad beginning; I should have given everyone a box of Kleenex, ne? I'm going to try updating regularuly, but honestly, speed is not exactly my forte. ^^;;

BlakBluNailPolish45: Thanks. Don't worry, I will be writing more. Maybe not at a quite speedy rate, but I will definitely update at LEAST once every two weeks.

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Summary: If saving her life meant breaking her heart... would you be willing to do it? Yet, if she still came chasing after you, would you still run away? Taking refuge in the Spirit World, Syaoran's convinced he's doing the right thing. CCS/Spirited Away crossover.

~ A World Away ~ Chapter Two ~ Loss ~

* * * * * The Kinomoto Household ... back to Jomei, Sachi and Kero * * * * *

"What the HELL?!?!" was the echo.

Sachi covered her ears. Boy that guardian could yell.

Jomei was doing the exact same thing as his sister, but his was more exaggerated, as if telling that THING to shut up. "Is there any earmuffs around here?" Jomei asked the thing.

"Earmuffs?! What the hell are you doing in Sakura's kitchen?!" Kero thundered. It was definite, for a small stuffed toy, he had a big voice.

Kero was breathing hard. That shout had taken a lot out of him, it was just when he floated downstairs, anticipating to see Sakura cooking pancakes or something, he had come face to face with someone whose eyes had looked strangely like Yue's, and that had freaked him out big time. Only this one had been female, as Kero was quick to notice. Kero added onto his question.

"Who ARE you two?"

Sachi shot a troubled look over at Jomei. She had thought that dealing with the two VERY overprotective people in Sakura's life would be hard, but she had never thought it would be this hard. Sachi had always thought of the sun guardian, Keroberos, as a fun-loving, prank-pulling stuffed animal. Certainly, in this situation, he was a stuffed animal, but his personality had done a complete 180. She guessed it was one of the consequences that she'd have to deal with from travelling to this plane of time from the future. She'd known this little guy for years back in the timeline where she was meant to be, but he didn't seem to know her at all here.

Of course he wouldn't! She hadn't even been born in this timeline yet. _Duh!_ Sachi thought, feeling like smacking herself on the forehead in disbelief. Ugh, she could be SO stupid sometimes. So completely dense. No wonder Jomei annoyed her all the time. Sachi had known Sakura's guardians back in her time. Well, she'd heard from Kero all about Tomoyo and Sakura, and had heard about stories from when Sakura had been alive. Tomoyo had always been at every card capture, well, the ones she could make it too anyway. Though, Sachi's timeline was so much different from this one. 

After Syaoran had left, Sakura had become down and depressed. She had refused to have anything to do with magic. Of course she'd taken care of the Cards. She was bound to, but she never used magic again. Kero had told Sachi that every year that Sakura had lived, she had looked worse and worse. Her green eyes had never lit up like they once had, never even sparkled. They had been dull and lackadaisical. Kero had been worrying about her, right up until the day of Sakura's passing.

A couple of years later, Sachi had been born. From the moment that she'd been able to understand Kero, she'd become fascinated with Kero's stories, and had wanted so very badly to meet this Sakura. And now, here had been her chance, and she'd learned nothing new about the girl that she hadn't already known. It disappointed her a little, but she knew that she had to be here for a purpose, her instincts had told her so, and here she was going to stay until she felt that she had done what she had set out to do.

Jomei, who was the more empathic of the siblings, sensed something wrong with Sakura's emotions. Sakura was feeling horrible sorrow and misery. Although at the moment, she was currently out cold. He opened his mouth to say something to his sister, but she had her hands full with explaining something to Keroberos. Maybe this was a job that Jomei had to deal with on his own. He gathered his bag from the kitchen table and rummaged within it for something. He had a look of concentration on his face and with his tongue set between his teeth, it looked pretty comical.

At last, well in two minutes, he found what he was looking for and he saw that Keroberos was still yelling at Sachi and he guessed that he would probably have to intervene. Except for the tiny fact that arbitrating was not exactly his forte... Damn, this was a time that he wished that he had paid more attention to his mother. Curse distractions!

"Hey, hey, you two. But it out, we've got to go help Kinomoto, she's in distress."

Kero's furious glare was directed upon Jomei. "How the hell do you know what's wrong with my mistress?"

Kero certainly seemed to like the word 'hell', it seemed to Jomei. "I can just sense it, ok? Look, can we get a move on? We don't want to harm her more by just leaving her out there. Something horrible has happened, I know it."

"What? Has she been attacked?" Kero's voice was worried.

Jomei was taken aback at this sudden display of concern from Keroberos. At least two seconds ago, he had been yelling at Sachi, and now he was all concerned. Geez, this guardian had a personality switch.

"No. She hasn't been attacked. Something's been said to her that's made her feel this way. I don't know what it is, but it's causing her great sorrow and misery. That's all I know. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"Look, it's ok, but we have to find her now, before someone else gets to her. I can't sense the gaki around anywhere. I think it's something to do with him."

Jomei grabbed the amulet that was dangling from Sachi's hand and held it between his palms. He focused his energy and sent a mental image of Sakura into the amulet.

"This should lead us to her," Jomei said to Kero as the needle in the amulet began spinning. Its ruby studded point stopped, pointing south-southwest, well about two degrees off. "Let's go."

Kero looked at the face of the amulet. It was pointing near south-southwest. "The shrine! That's where she is!"

Sachi looked with shock at Jomei. "Didn't she say that was where she was headed? That she was meeting a guy called 'Syaoran' there?"

Jomei thought back and his eyes widened. "That's right. Come on, we have to hurry."

"Get on my back. We'll fly there, it'll be the quickest way." Kero had transformed into his true form; that of Keroberos, the sun guardian. His golden-white wings arched and Sachi and Jomei quickly climbed on, seating themselves just behind Keroberos' wing joints. He cantered through the house, out the front door, which Jomei shut and locked behind them and he jumped, taking to the air with a couple of powerful flaps of his wings.

About halfway up, they saw another figure. Sachi sharply drew in her breath, the sight was beautiful, even in the morning, he was glistening. She recognised the figure as Yue, Keroberos' brother guardian.

Yue's gaze was directed at Jomei, who was still scanning the surroundings, and referring back to his amulet.

"Keroberos, who are they?" Yue asked. His voice was cold, like the moon.

"They say their names are Sachi and Jomei. Sachi's the girl, Jomei's the boy. They're siblings apparently. Jomei says that Sakura's in distress and he pinpointed her location with that amulet thing of his."

"I see..."

Yue's eyes narrowed a little as he surveyed the two. They had to be something to watch out for. He had no idea who these two were.

Sachi was looking back at her brother. "How long before you know exactly where she is?" she asked hurriedly.

"We already know. She's at the shrine. Remember, Keroberos told us that."

"I know, I know. Let's just hurry and go so that we don't miss her."

"Right."

Jomei reached over and tapped Keroberos' head. "Let's get moving. We don't want to miss her."

"Right. Yue, we're heading to Tsukimine Shrine. Whether you choose to come with us or not is your choice."

Keroberos flapped his powerful wings a few more times and glided in the direction of the shrine, travelling at a relatively fast pace, Sachi and Jomei on his back.

* * * * * Sakura's location – the SHRINE!! * * * * *

Black. Blink. Trees. Blink. Trees. Blink. Shrine. Blink.

That was all Sakura was seeing. She was numb at the moment. She had stopped crying long ago. Now she was too sad to even form tears. When she had woken up, she had looked around wildly, but Syaoran was long gone. And then it had all come flooding back.

Sakura's senses were shut down. She didn't want to use them any more. What was the point? She'd never feel his presence near. She didn't know where he was now. He had just gone Syaoran. Sakura's eyes were dull.

"SAKURA!"

The cry drew her attention. She looked over in their direction. She saw Keroberos, Yue, Jomei and Sachi.

"Sakura-chan!"

The cry was from Keroberos again, as he cantered over to her. Jomei and Sachi, who didn't exactly have the luxury of four legs and a great deal of speed, slowly caught up behind. Yue landed beside his brother.

"Mistress, what happened?"

Sakura didn't know how to answer. How was she meant to be into words what had happened? How was she meant to put her feelings into words? It was practically impossible. She was feeling such an array of emotions at the moment. They varied from hurt to sorrow, from confusion to understanding.

He had had to do this. That was the only bit that she understood, but what for... she didn't know.

"Mistress?" Yue's voice was quietly persistent.

Sakura looked up at the face of the moon guardian, whose expression was quietly concerned. It was clear that the moon guardian had sensed something wrong with her. He was more empathic than Kero.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"What's wrong?" Kero asked.

"She's in shock," a voice said.

Kero looked around. It was Jomei who had spoken up. 

"Something has happened that has affected her emotions seriously. I don't think she'll be ready to talk about it any time soon, so I suggest you leave her to mull it over herself." Jomei's voice was quiet, but able to be heard by everyone as the morning in the shrine was perfectly silent.

"Very well," Yue replied. He offered out a hand to help Sakura up.

Sakura looked at the hand that Yue had offered out and slowly reached out her own hand to hold it and pull herself up. Yue's hand closed around hers as she hoisted herself up.

"Thank you, Yue," she whispered.

"It's no problem, Mistress. Would you like us to take you home?"

"Yes, please, but I think it would be best if you both transformed back into your false forms."

"Yeah," Sachi's voice had chimed in. "It'd look kinda strange if there was a big lion with wings and a human with wings dressed strangely walking through town. I mean, we could say it was some sort of strange new publicity craze, but it'd probably be easier, we wouldn't attract as much attention if you were in your false forms. Besides, Yukito is kinda cute."

Jomei and Kero sweatdropped.

"Hey, Jomei? Is she always like that?" Kero asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"HEY!" Sachi yelled at her brother. "That wasn't nice!"

Jomei shrugged. "Deal with it."

"Bah..." Sachi made a face.

"By the way, you may have like Yukito back in our timeline, sis, but he could be a whole lot more different now..."

"Doubt it."

"Could be."

"Oh geez, for once in your lifetime and this one, shut up Jomei!"

"Can't be done. Sorry."

"So you should be... baka!"

"Oouu! Sachi using curse words."

"Jomei. Shut. Up."

Kero's sweatdrop grew even bigger. "Oh dear god..." he muttered. "I'm surrounded by idiots..."

"Oops, there goes my amulet. Oh damn you Sachi!"

* * * * * For once... the Spirit World!! Woohoo! Haku time! * * * * *

Syaoran looked around from where he had emerged from through the portal. He could see many spirits around him. Yes, this was certainly the place that he had intended to come to. The Spirit World. Syaoran looked around him again, except this time in a different direction. He saw a boy standing near him.

"You're a spirit, aren't you?" Syaoran asked.

"What are you doing here?"

Kohaku was observing this boy. He had appeared out of nowhere, just like Chihiro had all those years ago. Except it was that much obvious that this person had magical powers, otherwise he couldn't have gotten here on his own.

"I'm Syaoran Li," Syaoran said. "And you?"

"Kohaku River."

"A river spirit?"

"Yes."

"If you're a river sprit, then what are you doing here in a human form?"

"My river has gone. It was taken out to build a set of apartments. Someone told me that four years ago."

Syaoran was staring at Kohaku. 

"I'm here for work."

"You'll have to see Yubaba. But I recommend going to Zeniba first."

"OK. Could you tell me where they are?"

Kohaku pointed at the train tracks. "You have to follow the train tracks to the swamp. There you'll find Zeniba's house."

"Is there any fast way of getting there?"

"No. You either have to take the train, or walk. But since you're a spirit here and you have magic, you should be able to transform into the animal that most resembles you. Since your name is Syaoran, you associate with the wolf, so you should transform into a wolf. I can transform into a dragon because I'm a river spirit."

"I see. But how do I transform then?"

"You just focus on what you wish to become, and then most likely, you will become it."

It sounded easy enough, but soon Syaoran learnt, that even though words made it sound simple, transforming was a lot harder than it sounded. He had seen Kohaku transform a number of times before finally being able to merge into his own animal spirit. His sense of smell, sight and touch were improved drastically. He could sense things a lot better too. He gazed at Kohaku, his amber eyes quietly observant.

"Zeniba..." his voice came out as a low rumble.

"That way."

Kohaku pointed down at the train tracks again. "Follow them and I guarantee that you'll find Zeniba's house. It'll be the sixth stop. Look very carefully. You'll know when you're there."

"OK."

Syaoran bounded off the bridge with one powerful leap and began dashing across the tracks at a high speed. He marvelled at his senses, how sharp they were. He could detect a single movement from a fish, even as he blew past it. He was going to love it here, that much he could tell already.

* * * * * Meanwhile, back in Tomoeda... * * * * *

"Aww... CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!" Sachi squealed. She was holding a picture of Touya and Yukito that had been taken a long while back, back when Touya and Yukito were still in junior high. "I don't know which one is cuter, Touya or Yukito. What a hard choice!"

Kero was staring at Sachi in disbelief. "Jomei," he said, addressing the insane girl's brother. "I'd say your sister's officially gone crazy."

"I knew that a long time ago," Jomei replied nonchalantly.

"Well, I just learned it. I'd hate to be around her all the time."

"Join the club, but unfortunately... she's my sister and I have to put up with her. She has these crazy mood swings at the most annoying times."

"I think it's called PMS."

"Probably."

Jomei went back to flicking through a magazine. Kero floated down and took a look at the cover.

"A _girls _magazine? God boy, you need to get out more."

"It's actually quite interesting. There's this thing called the 'Embarrassment Page'..."

"Oh boy, do not go into the details. I do not want nightmares for the rest of my life..."

"Suit yourself." And Jomei lifted the magazine up until it was pretty much right in Kero's face.

"No! NO! NOO!!!"

Kero tried his very hardest to push away the magazine, but to no avail. His face was stuck in the magazine. His voice went muffled.

Sachi was watching Kero and Jomei with great amusement. She had never seen her brother be that annoying. OK, so she had, but never to someone else other than herself. Sometimes she just felt like strangling him.

"Jomei? Why do you do that to him?"

"Because it's fun and besides, I know that you find it amusing."

"OK, you caught me. Damn your empathic senses."

"Ha ha."

"Get off!" Kero cried.

His paws were wildly flailing around trying to get the magazine off his face.

"Kero, you're not going to get anywhere by doing that."

"Watch me!"

"OK."

And so she did. She watched and watched. Still, little Kero-chan did not manage to get the magazine off his face, no matter how hard he tried. It was still quite amusing though.

"Heh, keep it up Kero! I'm definitely going to borrow Tomoyo's camcorder sometime soon. This is KAWAII!"

"Oh no. She's turning into a Tomoyo."

"Ohohohoho!"

"Oh no... one is enough."

"Leave Tomoyo alone. She's cool. She makes me pudding." This muffled from Kero. He managed to push the magazine away from his face, all the while having a rather rile expression.

"No wonder you're getting so heavy."

"I have a high metabolism rate!"

"And you know that how...?"

"Everyone goes to the doctor once in a while, don't they?"

"A magical guardian going to a mortal doctor?!" Sachi asked incredulously.

"Yeah! You see a problem with that?"

"Uh... no... I guess not. I wonder, how would you wipe his memory afterwards that he's seen a stuffed animal talking."

"Oh, I go to a vet. I just transform into my true form and Sakura says that I have all the armour and stuff on me for a publicity thing."

"And they believe that?"

"Yeah, most of the time."

"Right... and who doesn't believe you?"

"Well, there is this one guy that lives near the corner, but he doesn't really count because me and Sakura don't really go to him a lot. There's this really nice guy in town though..."

Sachi slapped a hand to her forehead in disbelief. "I don't know how we're ever going to deal with this..."

"Go on, Kero. This is pretty amusing."

Sachi just groaned.

* * * * * Meanwhile... upstairs in Sakura's room... dun dun dun dun... * * * * *

"He just went, Yue. Just like that," Sakura snapped her fingers, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

"It's ok, Mistress. I think he'll come back." Yue was quietly observing his mistress.

"That's the keyword there, Yue. _Think._"

__

I'm going to miss you

I think you already knew that

When you passed on through the day

There I just sat

"I had no idea that he was intending to leave, Yue. I honestly didn't."

"I know, Mistress. You told me that."

"It reminds me of the dream that I had though..."

"Dream?" Yue was instantly alert. "What was it about?"

Sakura took a breath. Boy, this was going to be hard to explain.

__

I can't see your face at all

Though I know that you're happy

Though now you've passed on

I think I'm beginning to see

"It was black and then there seemed to come a voice echoing around me. It was saying, 'Come, come, the only way to see him again'. Then a figure swam into view. I didn't know who it was, but the voice was a woman's voice. Then I saw her features. She had long, really long, black hair swinging around her shoulders, and her eyes, a kind of metallic red-grey. I can't forget them. Anyway, after I asked what she wanted, she held a hand out to me. I reached out for it, but then I found myself surrounded in white light. It was the strangest thing."

__

I'm beginning to get scared

I'm not afraid to say that much

I can feel your presence

And things of the such

Sakura continued, "I wasn't answered, and after that, I don't remember anything..."

Yue pondered the dream, all the while staring at his mistress thoughtfully.

"Do you get anything from it?" Sakura asked. She sat down on her bed. Her mind wandered to Syaoran. She missed him terribly right now. And what made it worse was that she didn't even know where he was...

__

It's beginning to frighten me

I don't want to say

Thought it's the way of life

Maybe then it was just your day

Sakura suddenly caught a glimpse of a wolf streaking down train tracks. It looked sideways, right into her field of vision and then vanished. Sakura jerked out of her trance. Her eyes opened wide a little.

"Yue...? Something just happened to me. I'm scared..."

"What is it, Mistress?"

"I just had a vision, while I was awake."

__

I'm missing you

It's going through

I'm afraid to speak

I don't wanna seem weak

"Who was it?" Yue asked.

"I don't know exactly, but I have a hunch that it was Syaoran."

__

It's getting too hard

I don't wanna know anymore

My emotions are affecting me

Right through to the core

Sakura's eyes met Yue's.

"You have to tell me about this, Mistress. It might hurt, and I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to take the emotional pain away. But I need to know what you saw."

"OK," Sakura said in a hoarse whisper, now averting her eyes from Yue's steady gaze, "There was a wolf rushing past. It was dashing down train tracks, and it had a pretty determined look on its face. Then it turned and looked straight at it, right into my field of vision and I felt myself come back. That was it."

"So you think the wolf is Syaoran Li," Yue concluded.

"Yes."

"I don't see how that can be possible. How he can get _there._"

"What do you mean by _'there'_? Where's _'there'_?" Sakura looked right into Yue's eyes, seeing the apprehension in her guardian's eyes.

"You're not going to like this..."

__

I know I have to be strong

But it doesn't feel that way

But I'm going to try...

And come what may...

"He's in the Spirit World, Mistress."

"The Spirit World? What's that?"

"it's a world where the spirits of this one and many others go to rest. It's where they are and no one else, apart from those with magic can go there."

"I need to go there then."

"I'm sorry, Mistress. There is only a certain type of magic that is permitted to go there and the magic goes through certain bloodlines, but I'm afraid you are not related to them. I'm sorry."

"Oh no..." Sakura whispered. "How can I ever see Syaoran again...?"

__

~~To Be Continued...~~

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There's the end of this chapter. Please, if you have any ideas, or any characters that you'd like me to have in the story (made-ups), just either e-mail me the bio, or post it in a review. ^_^ I'd be able to fit them in somehow. I'd try my best anyway. If there's anything that I need to work on, please let me know. I'd much appreciate it.

Also- feel free to email me. I love talking to new people. I guarantee a reply ^_^

Karisa Temura

karisa_temura@yahoo.co.nz


	3. Chapter Three: Anger

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No songs used in this chapter, instead I have a couple of hole fillers. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of your questions, while not giving too much away. I hate being predictable. I hate it when I cliché things. I tend to do it so often and I've tried hard with this fic not to make it cliché like some of the other ones that I've done. Namely, my Fight For Life series. Argh... please tell me if it seems cliché. I don't want it to be...

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. But please don't copy the plot. I work really hard on my stories, and I try to make them original...

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Special thanks to:

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Phoniex-dragonmoon: Thanks, and as for your comment, I've tried to make a resolution to it. I've rewritten the two chapters already posted in an effort to make it less confusing. Also, I tried not to rush it as much. I guess I didn't explain who Sachi and Jomei were and how they came to be in Sakura's kitchen. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I have attempted to rewrite it. And as for how I would react- I'd probably wonder what the hell they were doing there and end up doing something that I might someday regret. ^^;; I have plans for Sachi and Jomei, and they're going to come in very handy in the upcoming three or four chapters... their ma is going to be making an appearance too... I don't want to give away too much... so I'll leave it there. But thank you for reviewing and I hope you continue to read on. Your comments are much needed. ^_^ Like I said last chapter, if you spot anything wrong or confusing, let me know and I'll attempt to right it.

Nightshade47: Evil huh? Hm... I didn't really think of it as being evil, but if that's how it came across... ^^;; Oops. There's going to be more, there's no doubt about that. Like I said in the previous chapter, speed isn't my forte so updates won't be as fast as some of the authors around this site. I like to take my time and make sure that everything's ok before it gets posted. And there's nothing wrong with being eccentric. I get a little crazy myself sometimes too. Just ask my tennis coach. --;; He's a pain... actually, more like annoying. Anyhow, thanks for your review and I hope you continue to read. ^_^

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Summary: If saving her life meant breaking her heart, would you be willing to do it? Yet, if she still came chasing after you, would you still run away? Taking refuge in the Spirit World, Syaoran has separated himself from Sakura, convinced that he's doing the right thing. CCS/Spirited Away x-over.

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A World Away ~ Chapter 3 ~ Anger

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* * * * * Sachi and Jomei's realm of time * * * * *

__

"Dai! You're not going to like this... DAI! DAI! Where are you?!"

The man searching for the woman was looking everywhere. He'd looked all throughout her house, even asked that damned guardian where she was and no one knew. Dammit! He needed to give Dai some urgent news! It was about her son and daughter. The guardian that lived in her house barely spoke anymore, not since his mistress had died. Hang on, yes, there was one person that he had used to talk to, but now that she was gone, he had not spoken a word since. However, that was the currently the last thing on the man's mind.

"DAI!!!"

The woman known as Dai emerged from one of the rooms in her house. Her grey eyes travelled from Keroberos to the man that had rudely intruded into her house. Her piercing glare was instantly upon him and the man could feel himself being slowly paralysed. He couldn't move!

"What is it that you want?" Dai asked. "This had better not take too long, I have to search for my son and daughter."

"But that is what I am here to talk to you about!" the man burst out, sweat beads rolling down his forehead. 

The man had long forgotten what it had felt like to be at the mercy of Dai. Of course, he was their caregiver, but that was beside the point. Sachi and Jomei often left the man to his will. They'd race off somewhere, finding some new thing to do, performing some new magic. God those brats could be annoying... Dai had forgiven him many times for letting the kids run off, but this time he feared she was at the end of her tether. She would accept this carelessness no more. The man instinctively closed his eyes and readied himself for whatever Dai was going to do to him. He'd have to accept his fate... but there was still so much that he wanted to do. Damn those brats for running away. If he got through this alive, he was going to make them pay for what they had done.

"Dai. Have mercy! PLEASE!" the man cried.

Dai's black hair swirled around her as her aura picked up. Magic became noticeable and it crackled. Dai's often absent-minded children never wondered about the consequences of their actions. They were going to give Dai grey hairs some day. Honestly. They took after their father, that much Dai could understand. Sachi was smart, but she was negligent with her brother and together they often proved to be more harm than help. That wasn't always a good thing.

There was the odd time where Sachi proved to be of help. Although she had never been all that attentive when Dai had been teaching her, she'd managed somehow to scrape by on her own wit. Strangely. But now was not the time to reflect on what Sachi and Jomei were, Dai had to find _where_ they were.

"Speak, Shijo, and I may spare your worthless life."

The man shuddered. He had seen Dai angry before. He had pushed her to the edge too many times. This was it. He was going to die at the hands of Dai, he knew it. Because Dai was one of the most respected and feared people in her township, she was not one to be messed with, especially when she was in a bad mood and that was currently what she was in now. Oh crap, he was going to die. But when he told her where her children were, she was going to throw even more of a fit. He knew that.

"They're – they're in the p – past," Shijo managed to get out before Dai's howl of fury.

"HOW DID THEY GET THERE?!?!" she thundered.

"Sachi used her magic."

"WHEN SHE GETS BACK-"

"The thing is, Dai. I don't know when she'll be back. She didn't say."

Dai's wrathful glare was turned upon Shijo. She pointed her finger at Shijo, her red-silver eyes narrowing to tiny slits and glowing intensely.

"Boy, you're gonna pay. You better tell me what part of the timeline they went back to, or you're going to be fish food."

Shijo wasn't feeling so good. The tight binding spell that Dai had on him was choking him. If he wasn't released soon, he'd suffocate.

"They went back to just before that boy, Li, went to the Spirit World. They wanted to change history, to make sure that he stayed. Sachi wanted to make sure that Kinomoto Sakura, the Card Mistress Sakura, was alright."

Dai's eyebrow was twitching. "Very well," she replied. "But if I find out that you're lying to me, Shijo, be warned, you cannot escape my wrath."

Shijo shuddered at the thought of another encounter with Dai. He was going to make sure that that never happened, even if it meant moving to an entirely new area. He'd rather live in dirt than face an angry Dai again. He'd learnt his lesson.

* * * * * Two hours later * * * * *

Dai was preparing herself for her arrival at the past. She pulled out her coat, wrapped it around herself and brushed her long hair before placing the hood of her coat over her head. "Children, you're going to learn not to mess with your mother," Dai said, examining herself in the mirror. When everything was set in order, Dai walked out of her room, taking an amulet on the way out. Time travel wasn't her speciality, it had been her husband's, and when he had died, he had left her his amulet that had helped him.

"Satu! Get here!" Dai barked when she opened the door. A creature that looked astonishingly like a fox with two tails and a dark grey gem on its forehead dashed to her side.

It looked obediently up at its master. Its golden eyes glinted strangely in the sunlight. "What do you wish of me, Dai?" it asked.

"Find my children, Satu. I expect to hear from you within the next minute."

Satu nodded. "Very well." The gem on its forehead glowed silver. Satu closed its eyes and started ti cast its senses into the past, present and future, looking for the familiar magical signals of the present-day Sachi and Jomei. They weren't that hard to find before Jomei had one of his father's amulets with him and Satu knew those amulets back-to-front. There, he had found them.

Satu's eyes opened.

"Well?" Dai asked, tapping her foot impatiently. "Where are they?"

"Precisely where Shijo told you. He was telling the truth." Satu looked up at its mistress.

"You heard?"

"Yes, I heard everything. You shouldn't be so hard on him."

"Oh, who cares. We have to find Sachi and Jomei before they cause any more trouble," Dai said impatiently. "Let's get going."

"Fine." Satu stood by Dai's side as the both of them vanished, heading into the past.

* * * * * The Kinomoto household... the living room... ^_^ * * * * *

Sakura was watching Sachi, Jomei, Kero and Yue talking. They seemed to be conversing about something that they didn't want her to know about because Sachi kept glancing sideways at her and then looking hurriedly back at the others whenever Sakura busted her staring her at her. However, Sakura was absorbed in her own thoughts. She was still thinking of that vision that she had had while in her bedroom with Yue. It still freaked her out a little.

Sachi was watching Sakura and then turning in to talk to the others. "We have to be careful. Ma could be in soon, and we don't want to catch her in a bad mood."

"Well, it's not my fault. I didn't suggest coming here. I wasn't the one who'd been talking to the guardian," Jomei stated, shrugging. "You're going to be the one who's in trouble, Sachi. Mum'll believe me over you anyday."

"Suck up," Sachi retorted at her brother. She fiddled with one of her long braids. "She will be grumpy, Jomei. We do know that. Of course, if Shijo has told her..."

Jomei looked horrified. "He wouldn't!"

"Of course he would. Geez, are you that dense, brother?"

"I'd say sometimes he is," Kero said.

"HEY!" Jomei whacked Kero on the head.

"OW! Brat, you're gonna pay for that!"

"Stop it you two. We have to figure out what we're going to do about Ma." Sachi was looking a little irritated with both Kero and Jomei.

"Let's go back to the shrine and see what remnants of the magic that Syaoran used can be found. It might help us," Jomei suggested.

Sachi nodded her affirmative. "Let's go then."

* * * * * The Sacred Cherry Blossom Tree at the Tsukimine Shrine * * * * *

Satu's golden eyes travelled from the shrine to the tree. It had been a long time since it had last been here. But Satu could almost always remember this place and moment as if it were yesterday. Being one of the guardians of time, every moment was etched into its brain. Even its thoughts right now. Since Dai had rescued the time guardian from a near horrible fate ago all those years into the future, it had felt like it owed her, and now helping Dai find her children was repaying her a favour. There was also some business that Satu needed to take care of in this timeline, it included something to do with that Kinomoto girl who'd been upset. It had been a while. Satu remembered meeting her back when she had been just a little girl. It also remembered the little girl's older brother, who even at that time, had been very protective of his younger sister.

Satu had watched the girl capture the cards, defeat Yue in the Final Judgement, watched her battle Eriol Hiiragazawa as she transformed the last of the former Clow Cards into her own. That girl had been very stubborn, she'd never given up. Satu had watched her grow closer to the boy, Syaoran. They had almost become inseparable, until the day when Syaoran Li had received some shocking news, directly from Satu's brother guardian, Roka. Syaoran Li had learnt that the life of the Card Mistress would be in great jeopardy if he stayed near her any longer.

Satu knew the demonic presence behind it all too well. It had always promised that it would show itself some day and the demonic presence had showed itself to Roka and asked it to bestow a message to Syaoran Li. Roka had been shocked by the message and had immediately come to Satu for advice. Satu had listened to the message and had immediately instructed Roka to give the message to the Li boy. If he hadn't received it... it could've been trouble for them all, not just the guardians of time.

Satu hadn't been unwilling to deliver the message itself, but if the demonic presence had found out that Satu knew as well as Roka, then Roka would be found out and punished, not just by the demonic presence, but also by time.

Satu looked around, it could sense that there were four beings nearby, and they were heading in its direction, it could instantly tell that two of the beings were Sachi and Jomei, that much was obvious. But there was a matter of the other two beings. They were obviously magical, but who else was magical apart from the Card Mistress in this timeline? Of course! It was the girl's guardians, Keroberos and Yue!

Satu looked around, he could not sense Dai anywhere nearby. She must've got lost somewhere on the way to the time that they were now in. So, Dai was probably a few years out. She'd make an appearance some time in the next few hours, it was assured. Satu would probably be feeling her wrath sometime too, not that it was looking terribly forward to it. Dai wasn't exactly the nicest person around, as Shijo had quickly found out back in their right time.

Satu stood its ground, watching Sachi, Jomei and the others land.

Sachi's eyes instantly widened and her hand went to her mouth as she stifled a gasp. There. There! THERE! She couldn't believe it, it was Satu, her mother's guardian. Well, technically, it was one of the guardians of time, but it owed her Ma a few favours and was obviously cashing in one of them now by helping to search for her and her brother. No doubt, her mother was furious, otherwise she wouldn't have enlisted Satu's help. Oh crap. They were in BIG trouble now...

If Satu told their mother where they were... Sachi couldn't bear the think of the consequences.

"Satu! Hey, Satu!" Sachi hissed. "Where's Ma?"

"You mean Dai?" Satu asked, knowing perfectly well who she was meaning.

"Of course! What happened? Did she get lost in the past? Please tell me she did."

"Yes, she did."

"You're not kidding me are you?"

"No I'm not, but Dai will soon catch up with us. She has your father's amulet."

Sachi's eyes were wide open. "She took Papa's amulet?"

Satu nodded. "She will be here soon. What do you wish of me?"

"Give us please just a little bit more time. There are some things that I need to discuss with these guys."

Satu's eyes were narrowed. "You're going to tell them about your magic, aren't you?"

Sachi nodded. "They have to know. It could be my only chance to right the past."

"Sachi, everything happens for a reason. It's common sense. Just be careful, ok?"

Satu wasn't so sure about this idea of Sachi's. Sure the girl came up with some good ideas sometimes, but this one sounded pretty risky and Satu would be the one getting the blame if the future changed a lot. Satu was going to be in trouble because of this girl's idea, it could feel it. It wasn't just going to be Dai who was going to punish it, it would also be the head guardian. Satu was supposed to be an unbiased creature of time, yet here it was helping Sachi, Jomei and the rest of these people... they would have its head for this.

It was going to have to deal with it.

"Sachi! Hold up. Let me help you," Satu called as Sachi turned back to see the others.

Sachi turned around, looking pleasantly surprised. "Are you sure that you can do this?"

Satu nodded. "Yes. We had better get moving, we don't want Dai, the head guardian, or even Roka to find us. Let's go, otherwise we're going to be in a whole lot of trouble."

Satu started running in the direction of the Kinomoto household, the others trailing closely behind him.

* * * * * The Kinomoto living room * * * * *

Sachi opened the door, letting Satu go before her. "Make yourself at home, Satu."

"Thank you," Satu replied and walked gracefully into the lounge, sitting down near a table.

Kero was looking at Sachi with an observing expression. "Care to fill me in?"

Sachi nodded. "Upstairs." She started walking to the staircase. "And if I catch any of you following us, then you're going to feel my wrath, understand?"

Satu nodded, acting for them all.

Kero followed Sachi up the stairs. He couldn't wait to receive answers to the questions that had been bothering him, but as for Sachi, she wanted to hear the whole story.

* * * * * Sachi and Kero in Sakura's room * * * * *

"And so that's it..." Kero said.

"Hmm..." Sachi was musing.

Her eyes went from Keroberos to the window to the book of Sakura's cards that lay on her desk. Walking over to pick it up, she stared at the cover. "It's so familiar..." she breathed. Sachi shook her head, now was not the time to delve into her memories. Sachi put down the book and examined Keroberos again.

"You know, in my timeline, you're a whole lot different from what you are in this one."

"Really? What's the difference?" Kero was intrigued.

"You're a whole lot... what's the word? Oh yeah, louder. In my time, you're a heck of a lot quieter, you don't really talk much. Then again, I guess, your mistress has passed on, so there's not really much for you there. You live in my house with my brother, my mother and me. Believe me, Ma is worse than me and Jomei put together."

"And that's possible?"

"Oh yes. Definitely."

"Oh crap. What are we in for?"

"You have no idea."

Kero was staring at Sachi. She was hiding something, he could feel it. He knew it.

"You're hiding something from me," Kero accused. "What is it?"

"Maybe I'll tell you, maybe I won't."

"I'm not going to reduce myself to begging."

"Suit yourself."

Minutes passed in absolute silence. You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"OH PLEASE TELL ME!!!!!!"

"You reduced yourself to begging, Kero."

"So what? Tell me!!"

Sachi was grinning. "Ok, I'll tell you. You remember how Yue told Sakura that there was a type of magic that could enter the Spirit World that only ran through certain bloodlines?"

"Yeah." Kero had a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

"I've got that magic."

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~~To Be Continued...~~

**** __

There's the end of this chapter. I bet some of you saw that coming... geez, I'm predictable. This chapter wasn't as good as my previous ones, in my opinion anyway. Next chapter will be better, promise! Anyhow, I don't have much more to say except: Please review!

Karisa Temura


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